CFMI-FM

CFMI-FM

City	New Westminster, British Columbia
Broadcast area	Metro Vancouver
Branding	Rock 101
Slogan	Greatest Hits of the 70's, 80's & 90's
Frequency	101.1 MHz (FM) (also on HD Radio)
First air date	March 22, 1970
Format	Analog/HD1: classic-leaning mainstream rock HD2: CKNW simulcast HD3: CHMJ simulcast
ERP	53 kilowatts average 100 kilowatts peak
HAAT	368.4 metres (1,209 ft)
Class	C
Transmitter coordinates	49°20′42″N 122°58′23″W / 49.345°N 122.973°W / 49.345; -122.973 (CFMI-FM Tower)Coordinates: 49°20′42″N 122°58′23″W / 49.345°N 122.973°W / 49.345; -122.973 (CFMI-FM Tower)
Callsign meaning	C FM I (Roman numeral, reference to former on-air branding FM One)
Owner	Corus Entertainment (Corus Premium Television Ltd.)
Sister stations	Radio: CKNW, CHMJ, CFOX-FM TV: CHAN-DT, Global News: BC 1
Webcast	Listen live
Website	www.rock101.com

CFMI-FM (identified on air and in print as Rock 101) is a Canadian radio station in the Metro Vancouver region of British Columbia. It broadcasts at 101.1 MHz on the FM band with an effective radiated power of 100,000 watts (peak) from a transmitter on Mount Seymour in the District of North Vancouver. Owned by Corus Entertainment, the studios are located in Downtown Vancouver, in the TD Tower. The station has a classic rock format.

History

CFMI first signed on in early 1970. Over the years, the station added FM transmitters in most of British Columbia. On July 26, 2011, CFMI-FM received Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) approval by increasing New Westminister's transmitter to the average effective radiated power (ERP) from 37,000 to 53,000 watts (maximum ERP from 75,000 to 100,000 watts), by decreasing the effective height of antenna above average terrain from 686 to 386.4 meters and by relocating its transmitter.^[1]

On July 15, 2014, CFMI-FM dropped the word Classic from its name and shifted its format from classic rock to mainstream rock; such a move was also implemented on CILQ-FM in Toronto, which is also owned by Corus.

As of November 2016, the station shifted to "classic rock and the greatest hits of the 70's, 80's and 90's".

Overview

The station signed on with a very-short-lived country music format. This was followed by a light-popular music format ("pop for adults"). CFMI was distinguished in its earlier years by being a technical innovator of early automation systems. Stereo automation systems of the day relied heavily on reel-to-reel tape machines for music. CFMI's automation had no reel machines, but relied totally on cartridge carousels, which allowed greater programming flexibility ("random access"), but no broadcast cartridges of the day could reproduce quality stereo. The response of CFMI's engineers was to invent a new cartridge that could: the Aristocart. Parent company Western International Communications went on to develop a manufacturing division, exporting these improved cartridges to broadcasters around the world. Today's broadcasters use computer systems with large hard drives to reproduce music digitally, and have no need of tape systems. But in its heyday (circa 1975-1990), the Aristocart was an improvement to a technical problem shared by all commercial stereo broadcasters.

Among CFMI's programming innovations was Discumentary, a one-hour musical documentary of programming featuring a particular artist or a particular theme. This was developed in response to the CRTC's requirement for foreground programming. The Discumentary programs were written by Paul Wiggins and voiced by Dave McCormick, then Terry David Mulligan and syndicated throughout Canada, and broadcast internationally on the Anik D satellite. Later, CRTC regulations phased out the need for foreground programming, and CFMI phased out Discumentary.

Rebroadcasters

CFMI also operates on a number of low-power FM transmitters and cable channels.

References

External links

• Rock 101
• CFMI-FM history – Canadian Communications Foundation
• Query the REC's Canadian station database for CFMI-FM